Noted Earth scientist and MBARI President Marcia McNutt will speak at
the White House about ocean exploration during the Ninth Millennium
Evening lecture,
"Exploration Under the Sea, Beyond the Stars." Hosted by the President and
First Lady, this lecture will be broadcast live on June 12 at 2:30 pm
Eastern Time (11:30 am Pacific Time) on CSPAN, NASA-TV, and the Discovery
Science Channel. It will be cybercast via the Internet on the Sun
Microsystems and Executive Branch
Television websites.

The depths of the ocean and the outer reaches of space are the final
frontiers for human exploration. Scientific studies of these frontiers,
enabled by innovations in technology, continue to contribute to our overall understanding
of the Earth. Joining Dr. McNutt at the lecture, scientist Neil de Grasse
Tyson, Director of the Hayden
Planetarium in New York City, will address recent advances in space
science.

Dr. McNutt will share her experience with the challenges of conducting research
in the deep ocean. "The deep-sea's extreme pressures, barriers to
communication frequencies, and corrosive environment are obstacles to the
ocean explorer," said McNutt, "but new technology is addressing
these challenges, allowing scientists to observe and describe this water
planet as never before."

Schools and communities across the country can downlink the lecture's
satellite broadcast and the White House audience will include local
students. "This is an unparalleled opportunity to communicate the
excitement of ocean sciences to the President, First Lady, and America's
children," said McNutt.

For more information about this and other lectures in the White House
Millennium Evenings series, see the White
House Millennium Council website. Cybercast viewers can email questions about
ocean and space research to the President, First Lady, and the speakers
from this website prior to and during the lecture.